a blog about transition

On Birth Names and Pictures

I often get asked, “Eli, are you okay when people call you Eliza?” and the answer to that is a little more complex than they probably wanted.

No, I am not Eliza anymore. Yes, I was Eliza for the first thirteen years of my life. But I’m Elijah now. So you call me my name. Elijah. Not that hard.

Personally, I don’t mind if people call me Eliza to refer back to pre-transition me, but only if we’re close. And the person knows not to call me that now.

Sometimes I’ll use she/her pronouns to refer to past me. Only I can do that. And my extremely close friends, maybe. No one else. Please use he/him or they/them pronouns when referring to me at any point in my life.

On pictures of pre-transition me, it really depends. Most I hate. But 0-9 year old me? What a kid. Weird, awkward, hideously unphotogenic, but truly a masterpiece. Fun to look at and joke. But please don’t spread pictures of me around before my transition without my knowledge.

I’m just one trans person. I’m not answering for every trans person. This is just my personal feelings.